Cross-posted at Dkos.  http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

Tonight on PBS (check your local listings for time), POV will present The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.

If you don’t know anything about the Vietnam war, Daniel Ellsberg, or the Pentagon papers, and want to bring yourself up to speed, or, if you just want a good refresher on what you already know, here’s your chance.

From the full description of this film, below the fold:

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Cross-posted at Dkos http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

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Presidents making a war escalation speech to enthusiastic supporters, now…..

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“This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. ”

President Barack Obama, VFW convention, August 2009.

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…..and back then.

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Cross posted at Dkos http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

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Two nights ago, President Obama said this in his Oval Office speech:

Now, as we approach our 10th year of combat in Afghanistan, there are those who are understandably asking tough questions about our mission there. (emphasis added)

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And recently, Sen. Dick Durbin had this to say about Afghanistan:

Durbin, who voted against the Iraq war but for the Afghanistan war, said the consequences of combat in Afghanistan, particularly growing numbers of wounded and disabled veterans, “weigh dearly on me.” He added that Americans must continue to ask not only what the US has achieved in Afghanistan but also “how will it end, when will it end, and at what cost.” (emphasis added)

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Neither Obama nor Durbin described exactly who is asking questions about Afghanistan, or exactly what questions are being asked and what answers are being given.

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Cross-posted at Dkos http://www.dailykos.com/story/… and Firedoglake

The mainstream media do not ask our government the questions they should be asking about Afghanistan.  

I diaried about this last week.

Since the MSM won’t ask the tough questions, it’s up to you and me, it appears.

I’m a military dad whose progeny has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan in heavy combat, where the batallion had many KIAs and serious WIAs.

I’m sick of constant endless war based on specious reasoning, and I have questions I want Dick Durbin, my senator, to answer about Afghanistan.  It’s our service members and their families who are paying the price and bearing the burden for all of it.  Members of congress who keep shoveling the money for constant, endless war ought to look us families who OPPOSE it in the eye, and answer questions.

(Note: Sen Durbin had a small tumor removed from his stomach by minimally invasive surgery on August 12.  He’s reported to be recovering well, and is campaigning in Illinois, according to this report)

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Cross-posted at FireDogLake and Dkos http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

I’ve had two face-to-face meetings with Sen. Dick Durbin in the past, arranged by the director of the senator’s downstate office in Springfield, Illinois.

Fifteen minutes were promised, but I actually got thirty minutes each time.  

And, one of my progeny is serving in the Armed Forces, and has survived one deployment to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, both involving heavy combat where the batallion sustained many KIAs and severe WIAs.

I’m sick of constant, endless war which is based on specious reasoning.  The populace of the U. S. of A. is not paying the price and bearing the burden;  it’s our service members and their families who are paying the price and bearing the burden.

And, I want to talk directly with Sen. Durbin about it.

Cross-posted at Dkos

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I don’t know if you’ve been waiting for this like I’ve been.

It’s here!!!

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Not a very lengthy diary, but heck!  Tom says it s-o-o-o-o-o well!  ; – )

Cross-posted at dkos  http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

Update:  Please see my update in comment #6 below.  This thing looks as if it is much less a concern for the ordinary essayist/diarist than I thought!

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THIS AFFECTS ALL BLOGGERS/CITIZEN JOURNALISTS

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Thanks to kos himself, and to kossack WilliamKWolfrom, and AMERICAblogger John Aravosis, I am now aware of Senators Durbin and Feinstein’s efforts to deny citizens who do citizen journalism the benefits of the same shield law which protects professional journalists.

Cross-posted at DKos

Tonight on PBS, Bill Moyers Journal will focus on the LBJ telephone and office tapes created during the escalation in Vietnam, in a program called “Hearing History”.

Bill Moyers considers a President’s decision to escalate troop levels in a military conflict. Through LBJ’s taped phone conversations and his own remembrances, Bill Moyers looks at Johnson’s deliberations as he stepped up America’s role in Vietnam.

President Lyndon Johnson’s taped conversations are a treasure-trove for both historians and current policy makers. On the JOURNAL, Bill Moyers explores the tapes to review Johnson’s deliberations as he stepped up America’s role in Vietnam. Some of the names on the tape, such as Robert F. Kennedy, will be familiar to Americans young and old – others less so.